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“A number of products from Apple, Samsung, and Microsoft are increasingly being designed in ways that make it difficult for users to fix, which shortens the lifespan of these devices and adds to growing stockpiles of e-waste,” Gary Cook, IT sector analyst at Greenpeace, said at the time.

Friends Of The Earth have estimated the manufacture of a single smartphone, which typically includes minerals such as lithium, tantalum and cobalt and rare metals, used 13 tonnes of water and the equivalent of 18 square metres of land.

Campaigner Julian Kirby said of Black Friday: “Let’s not get caught out.. let’s not get bullied into something that is, at the end of the day, just a marketing gimmick.

“If you don’t need it or want it then don’t give them your money. If you are going to take advantage of what’s purported to be lower prices then don’t rush into it, think about whether it’s the most sustainable and ethical product and whether you might be able to get a second hand version that’s able to do just as good a job.”

Dom Ferris, a project manager at Surfers Against Sewage told HuffPost UK: “Does that person really need what you’re going to buy them? Do they really want it? Does it tell a story of how you feel about them?

Can you do something else? Can you create something for them? Can you take them somewhere? Stop and think: ‘Do they need it?’

“If you love the ocean, the environment, consider if is it harming them.”